When you think you can’t top your day … and then it happens! Wow! What a day!
Went to the place where I bought the ticket at 8am. The place was closed and that made me a little nervous. Then, a taxi driver came up and asked me if I was headed to Isla Daphne. I showed him the paper and he ushered me to get in his truck. On our drive, I noticed a sign that was the same shape as a stop sign, but was brown with a circle painted on it and had a painting of a turtle in the center. I thought this was strange to see inland, until I looked out and saw a HUGE turtle on the bike lane. A bike would have two choices, go around either side of it or crash into it. There would be no way of going through it. LOL
We drove for half an hour up to the ferry dock that takes you to the airport. After waiting half an hour here for the boat to take our out, we were given life jackets. Here we boarded a dingy that took us out to our boat.
This was a nice boat and a lot of comfort; you can sit inside, outside in back or on the bow. We headed out open waters and within 15 minutes one of the crew ran out to fishing lines. In about ten minutes he pulled in a fish. Just as he cast it out the other fishing rod started to sing. He gave it to me to pull in. Once I got the nice fish close to the boat the skipper grabbed the line, but left some slack … lost the fish.
After running the lines again in about 15 minutes the line started to sing. He asked if anyone wanted to pull in the fish and no one was interested so I said I would. This time I had a fighter and once it got to the boat, it was a lot smaller than the other fish, but the skipper said it was one of the best tasting fish. Before we got to the snorkelling place, I had pulled in three fish.
We anchored the boat what looked like was in the middle of the ocean. There was a small piece of land that jutted up and this is what we were going to snorkel around. Once in the water, the guide asked us to wait for him. He made it very clear he wanted everyone to stick together. I don’t think he meant on top of each other and that was what a lot of them were doing. LOL
Anyway, I spotted some shark in a little hidden part of a coral. The guide was pulling three tourists and basically ploughed right over me! HaHaHa He was a bit of a jerk.
Anyway, I thought I would hold back, let them have a look and once they moved on I would take some photo’s. While I was waiting for the others to finish watching the sharks, a fast moving object just flew by me … it was a sea lion! I started to watch him and he grabbed the rope that was attached to the boat and started to pull it. Talk about funny.
The other group started to move on and once they did, the sharks came out of the hidden spot and started to swim in circles. I got a few good pics. 😊
As we continued our way, we saw a few fish and continued to circle the jut of land. About two thirds of the way around, the guide started to pull the group towards the boat. I decided to veer off a little ways and I had a guy from England join me. Well, we hit gold! We found a spot with over ten sharks! I called out to the guide but he ignored me. So Lee, from England, and I enjoyed watching the sharks … that was awesome.
We boarded the boat and were heading to our next locale for snorkelling which was about ten minutes away. The captain hollered (in Spanish), “Dolphins!” and he gunned the boat to go into their direction. He slowed the boat down and for a few minutes we had dolphins swimming around us and jumping out of the water. There were quite a few of them. A few dolphins swam at the bow of the boat. So amazing to watch these incredible creatures.
We then went back to the location of our second snorkel event. We got into the water and swam close to the side of the island. The island went straight down but had a beautiful ledge under water. We observed some small sharks, and a variety of tropical fish.
At one point, we came across a flat ledge that had many starfish on them. There were two different types of starfish and again a great deal of tropical fish as well as a sea urchin.
We boarded the boat and then headed to our third and final destination, a beach. The fishing lines went out again and after about twenty minutes both lines really started to sing. The captain quickly stopped the boat. The skipper grabbed one rod and I asked him if he wanted me to start winding in the other. He was pulling in the one and then passed it to one of the tourists. He came over and grabbed my rod and started to wind it in. He passed it back to me and got on his glove while I reeled it in. When he grabbed the line and pulled the fish out of the water, two thirds of the fish was missing! He said a shark got it! He then took over the other rod and pulled the fish in. The back end of the fish was damaged, but still whole. What a catch!
We made it to the beach and some of them decided to lay on the sand while some of us snorkelled around to find sea turtles. I was in the right spot as I observed quite a few sea turtles. Before we left the boat, the skipper told me that it was important not to make any noise as this would scare the sea turtles away. At one point, I just floated with my head in the water and two sea turtles came under me. A little later, I decided to see if I could quietly snorkel and keep up with a sea turtle. By not moving too quickly and not splashing, I was able to stay directly above a sea turtle. It is so indescribable to observe the sea turtle for quite some time gliding through the water with ease and almost like slow motion. Unfortunately, the water was not very clear to get great photo's, but what an amazing feeling.
I also had a few stingrays swim circles around me during this time.
After about forty-five minutes we boarded the boat and headed back to catch the taxi to town. On the way back, the Skip made up some fresh sushi. I had to try one piece ... okay, tried it ... I am sticking to the watermelon. LOL
Once anchored back in the bay, we thanked the crew. The captain drove us back to the dock in the dinghy.
Everyone was getting in a taxi and there was one young lady and myself that were standing there. I asked the guide what about our taxi. He said the girl and I would be going back to town with the captain and the skipper. We waited about half an hour and then got picked up by the skipper. He drove to a little side parking lot where we loaded the fish and all the stuff from the boat. Once we got the truck taxi loaded, we headed back to Puerto Ayora. Not two minutes into the drive, the Skipper pulled out two beer. He gave one to the lady and I to drink and the Skipper drank the other one. Now this is a perfect end to a perfect day! Having a cold beer while driving back to town … just like the good old days. HaHaHa
The Captain dropped the Skipper off just on the outskirts of town at his home. I had asked that when we get into town, I would like to be dropped off at the gas station (my accommodations was three blocks from here). As we were about to get back onto the paved road, the Captain and the guide got out of the vehicle and started to push. I got out to push as well. We ended up coasting down the hill about three blocks right into the gas station where I wanted to be dropped off. Turned out that he ran out of gas! A thrilling day right to the end. LOL